Tuesday, August 07, 2007

Bowling Bag Ala Big Lebowski

Have you see the uncut version of The Big Lebowski? It takes guys as simple as the Dude and Walter to make a story this complicated... and they'd really rather be bowling. Well, it is one of my favorite movies and recently our friends Terri N. and Michele P. and I watched it over at Terri's house. We needed to watch it together as I had recommended it to Michele and she and her husband watched it and, well, for lack of a better phrase, they didn't get it! So we watched it together so I could help with plotlines and inside humor and stuff...
  • A lot of the Dude's clothes in the movie were Jeff Bridges's own clothes.
  • The Dude never actually bowls.
  • The Jellies sandals that Jeff Bridges wears in the movie were his own.
  • The Dude was based on independent film promoter Jeff Dowd (aka Jeff "The Dude" Dowd), who helped the Coen brothers secure distribution for their first feature, Blood Simple. (1984). Like his fictional counterpart, Dowd was a member of the Seattle Seven and takes a casual approach to grooming and dress.
  • The reason Steve Buscemi's character, Donny, is constantly being told to "Shut the f**k up!" by Walter (John Goodman), is because Buscemi's character in Fargo (1996) would not shut up.
  • The Dude has a habit of repeating phrases he hears. The George Bush speech "This aggression will not stand" is repeated by the Dude. Maude Lebowski uses the phrase "Parlance of our times" Dude repeats this one in the limo. The Big Lebowski says he "Will not abide another toe!" at the end of the movie "The Dude abides"
  • In the beginning when the Dude writes a check in the supermarket the date is 9-11-1991. Paired with George H.W. Bush saying "This aggression will not stand." Now that's interesting!
  • The animal referred to in the film as a marmot (and by Walter Sobchak as an 'amphibious rodent') is actually a ferret. It is illegal to keep ferrets as pets in California, a fact alluded to by Walter a short time later.
  • The man shown bowling in the picture on The Dude's wall is President Richard Nixon. Nixon was an avid bowler.

Somebody stop me here! I LOVE the Big Lebowski-think I am going to watch it again today. Just talking about gets me going...

Well anyway about this purse-this is a free pattern and I thought some of you might, you know, dig it.

http://www.theanticraft.com/archive/beltane07/bowlingbag.htm

Check it out, in the parlance of our time.

Talk to you,

Lynda

In an early draft of the script, The Dude's source of income was revealed. He was an heir to the inventor of the Rubik's cube. It was Joel's idea to drop this and never say.

(Must say I have wondered where he ever got any money...)


1 comment:

Unknown said...

Hey, man, theres's a beverage here!
tM